A Lost Paradise

For other uses, see Lost Paradise (disambiguation) and Paradise Lost (disambiguation).

"Shitsurakuen" redirects here. For the manga series Shitsurakuen, see Shitsurakuen (manga).

A Lost Paradise (失楽園, Shitsurakuen) is a 1997 Japanese novel by author Junichi Watanabe. It tells the story of a married, former magazine editor aged 54; his affair with a married 37-year-old typesetter and their double-suicide. The couple, Kūki and Rinko, are modeled after the famous case of Sada Abe.^[1][2][3]

A Lost Paradise

First edition (1997)
Author	Junichi Watanabe
Original title	失楽園 (Shitsurakuen)
Translator	Juliet Winters Carpenter
Language	Japanese
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Kodansha
Publication date	1997
Publication place	Japan
Published in English	2000
Media type	Print (paperback)
Pages	372 pp
ISBN	4-7700-2324-3

The book became a bestseller throughout Asia, selling 3 million copies in Japan. Shitsurakuen became a slang word for having an affair.^[2][4] It was first serialized in the business newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun in 1995.^[3][5][6] The book was made into a film and a TV drama the same year.^[2] The film, Lost Paradise, was nominated for 13 Japan Academy Prizes winning one with Hitomi Kuroki for lead actress.^[7]